Repak Report 762,464 Tonnes of Packaging Recovered and Recycled in 2015
Repak announced a year-end having funded the recovery and recycling of 762,464 tonnes of household and commercial packaging in 2015 at their annual general meeting this morning.
The strong financial performance can be attributed to improved cost operational efficiencies of €2.6m and a stronger than budgeted membership fee income of €526,000. This facilitated the introduction of a member fee rebate scheme, returning €857,000 to members.
Repak also confirmed the transfer of €20 million to a contingency reserve fund, which is required by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (DECLG) and is a condition of Repak’s approval. The Contingency Reserve Fund is ring fenced from the day-to-day financial requirements of Repak, and is held by the company in trust for its members.
The 762,464 tonnes of packaging recovered and recycled in 2015 is a 6% decrease from 2014. This decrease can largely be attributed to the 20% reduction in the level of waste to energy recovery of packaging material, accounting for the majority of the overall 6% decrease.
In 2015 Repak contributed 83% to national recovery targets which is expected to be 91% overall, 16% higher than the original target set by the DECLG. Repak also contributed 63%, (579,756 tonnes) to national recycling targets which is expected to be 72% overall, 7% higher than original target also set by the DECLG. Paper accounted for the largest volume of tonnes recycled (50%), followed by glass (22%), and plastic (12%).
Commenting on Repak’s performance in 2015 was CEO of Repak, Séamus Clancy:
“2015 has been a very positive year for Repak, cost controls have resulted in both direct recycling and administration costs being reduced. We have surpassed our Recycling and Recovery compliance targets for Ireland and continue to provide value for money to members through our rebate scheme. “
“Membership growth and bringing the ‘Free Riders’ to account are the main priorities for Repak in 2016. We welcome the initiative by the DECLG and the introduction ofwaste-enforcement regional lead authorities (WERLAs) to help tackle the issue of Free Riders. In conjunction with Local Authorities, Repak is developing a new shared database that will provide up to date information on compliant and non-compliant businesses and will therefore focus the enforcement effort. We will also encourage existing Repak members and trade bodies to promote compliance. Greater compliance will reduce the fee scales for existing members and level the playing field for all.”
Repak Members
Membership numbers remained stable at 2,069. Repak also confirmed there was no increase in member’s fees in 2015, the eighth consecutive year in which fees have been frozen.
The member’s fee rebate scheme returned €857,000 to members in 2015. The fee rebate programme was introduced at the start of 2015 and will continue into 2016. The rebate is principally paid on timely submission of packaging statistics and payment of invoices by the due date.